Like many aspects of Saudi Arabia's security posture, the country has traditionally been highly secretiveregarding the size of its defence budget. It does not reveal or publish its annual spending levels, or the levelsof its defence imports and exports. In 2013, BMI anticipated that the country spent US$68.8bn on defence.We expect increases in defence spending to US$78.2bn in 2014It was reported in November 2013 that Saudi Arabia was considering the purchase of conventional hunterkillersubmarines from Germany. Riyadh is thought to be especially interested in the Type-209 boat whichis built by German shipbuilders.Underlining the threat that Saudi Arabia continues to face from internal terrorism, five Al-Qaeda militantswere convicted in a Saudi court in January 2014 of a plot to attack an oil refinery in the city of Yanbu on thecountry's Red Sea coast. They were given prison sentences of up to 25 years, and the individuals included15 Saudi nationals and a Yemeni. Earlier in late December 2013, Saudi Arabia announced that it had closeddown an al-Qaeda cell, in cooperation with the authorities in the United Arab Emirates, thought to beplanning attacks throughout the Kingdom.

Key Findings •Infrared (IR) seeking technology has evolved to more capable systems that can differentiate between a flare and an aircraft. The use of flares is diminishing and are being replaced with ...